May 2009

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    The Geography of Carbon Emissions from Driving, with Maps

    The Center for Neighborhood Technology is releasing today a new series of GIS-based maps showing where carbon emissions from driving are the highest in the nation’s metro areas. The maps demonstrate vividly that, although emissions on a per-acre basis are…

  • Beware the Myth

    In the Spring 2009 issue of Shelterforce, now available to view online at www.shelterforce.org, Nandinee K. Kutty, an author and economist who works in housing and urban policy worries that despite the Homeowner Affordability and Stability Plan and Making Home Affordable, housing discrimination will continue to plague the market, as will the myth that the housing crisis resulted from extending homeownership and home mortgage credit to historically underserved groups. Kutty argues that “Fair lending is the law,” and “it’s not option or something we practice only when it’s convenient for banks,” and that “we are where we are because of decades of discrimination.” While those in the Rooflines sphere are likely to agree with her, the story’s overall takeaway is an important one to repeat over and over again because there are myriad external forces working to distract the country with false explanations for the economic meltdown. Kutty refers to the “myth” that lending to so-called irresponsible borrowers caused the crisis and worries that this myth will only make the suddenly-frugal banks tighten their purse strings even more, making loans they’re only “comfortable with,“thus resulting in even more discrimination. more

  • What Can 35.5 MPG Change?

    Tuesday’s announcement from the White House regarding the president’s intention to direct EPA and DOT to jointly raise fuel-economy standards and reduce greenhouse-gas pollution is certainly welcome news here at Rooflines. With these new rules, passenger vehicles sold in the…

  • NatGeo Surveys Countries’ Transit Use: Guess Who Comes In Last

    Americans are far less likely to use public transportation than residents of other countries, according to the National Geographic Society’s 2009 Greendex report. Only five percent of Americans surveyed report daily use of public transportation, and only seven percent report…

  • I Want to Ride My Bicyle. I Want to Ride It Where I Like

    It’s Bike to Work Day 2009 and I did not ride my bike to work. Why? I can’t. I can ride a bike, and I love hitting the road for some recreation, but for me, and for millions of commuters…

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    Federal Stimulus Threatened to Overrun Small Town with Sprawl

    The federal government has a history of subsidizing sprawl, wittingly or not. Even the Clean Water Act contains a mechanism that, according to my NRDC colleague Nancy Stoner, “continues to fund new sewage treatment plants and new sewage and stormwater…

  • Bringing Victims of Foreclosure Back Home

    It was often disappointing during the long housing boom to see the affordable housing stock continue to dwindle even as CDCs continued to build more supply. In a somewhat similar vein, one of the frustrations of the foreclosure crisis has…

  • Jack Kemp: Stalwart of the Party of Lincoln

    Jack Kemp will be remembered for his many roles in public life — as the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills, as U.S. Congressman (from Buffalo, NY), the HUD Secretary (under President George H. Bush), the Vice Presidential Candidate (running with…

  • Affordable Housing In Urban Centers Not Enough

    Affordable housing is being built in New Jersey’s urban centers, and why not? There, you have the low- and moderate-income demographic who qualify for affordable housing, and you have all of the transportation infrastructure needed to get folks around. Problem…

  • Bring the Green to Rental Buildings

    Given all the emphasis on green jobs and energy efficiency in the Obama administration, it’s not surprising that these uses are targeted by a huge chunk of the economic stimulus money now flowing to the states and on to cities…